Clinton Ford (born Ian George Stopford Harrison; 4 November 1931 – 21 October 2009) was an English popular singer of the 1950s and 1960s.

Biography

He was born to George Henry Harrison and Annie Simpson who, in 1911, lived in Howard Street, off Eccles New Road in

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. Initially, he worked as a laboratory assistant, but in 1957 became a Butlins Redcoat in

Pwllheli Pwllheli ( ; ) is a market town and community on the Llŷn Peninsula (), in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It had a population of 4,076 in 2011, which declined slightly to 3,947 in 2021; a large proportion (81%) were Welsh language, Welsh speaking. ...

, and worked there for three summer seasons. During the winter season he sang with the Jazz Band called 'Merseysippi' at the

Cavern Club The Cavern Club is a music venue on Mathew Street, Liverpool, England. The Cavern Club opened on 16 January 1957 as a jazz club, later becoming a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The club becam ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, recording several songs with them, including " Get Out and Get Under". He began his recording career as Clinton Ford with the Oriole

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

, changing his name because his own did not fit some of his American songs. He performed

skiffle Skiffle is a music genre, genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, Country music, country, Bluegrass music, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. ...

in the Backwoods Skiffle Group and recorded some unsuccessful singles with the Hallelujah Skiffle Group. He appeared at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

, and with

Ken Dodd Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English stand-up comedy, comedian, actor and singer. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer" and was primarily known for his live stand-up comedy, stand-up pe ...

on Dodd's television shows. He also appeared in ''Stars and Garters'', '' The Billy Cotton Band Show'', and '' The Good Old Days''. Ford had his first success with a cover of the

Red Foley Clyde Julian "Red" Foley (June 17, 1910 – September 19, 1968) was an American musician who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II. For more than two decades, Foley was one of the biggest stars of the gen ...

song "

Old Shep "Old Shep" is a song composed by Red Foley, with lyrics by Willis Arthur, published in 1935, about a dog Foley owned as a child. In reality, the dog, poisoned by a neighbor, was a German Shepherd called "Hoover." Foley first recorded the song o ...

", which appeared on the

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

in 1959. Ford donated all his royalties from this recording to the Guide Dogs for the Blind. It was the only version of the song ever to chart in the UK. His next singles were "Too Many Beautiful Girls", followed by " Fanlight Fanny" which was his most successful single, reaching 22 in the UK Singles Chart in March 1962. His album ''Fanlight Fanny'' (1962) reached number 16 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. He toured with

Kenny Ball Kenneth Daniel Ball (22 May 1930Larkin C., ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music''. (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), p. 29; ) – 7 March 2013) was an English jazz musician, best known as the bandleader, lead trumpet player and vocalist in Kenny Ball and ...

& His Jazzmen and played at

the Cavern Club The Cavern Club is a music venue on Mathew Street, Liverpool, England. The Cavern Club opened on 16 January 1957 as a jazz club, later becoming a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The club beca ...

in Liverpool around the time that

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

were starting to become popular. His career outlasted many of his contemporaries, with his singles appearing in the UK charts over a span of more than eight years. He was also in great demand on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

programmes, such as '' Saturday Club'', where a live singer was required to sing standards and also covers of current hit songs. After recording for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

, in 1966 Ford changed

Piccadilly Records PYE or Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history. The Pye name was dropped in 1980 due to trademark issues, after which it produced ...

. In 1967 "Run To The Door" again made the UK chart, and other singles including "

Dandy A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance and personal grooming, refined language and leisurely hobbies. A dandy could be a self-made man both in person and ''persona'', who emulated the aristocratic style of l ...

" (popularized by

Herman's Hermits Herman's Hermits are an English rock and pop group formed in 1963 in Manchester and formerly fronted by singer Peter Noone. Known for their jaunty beat sound and Noone's often tongue-in-cheek vocal style, the Hermits charted with numerous tra ...

) backed with another Formby number "Why Don't Women Like Me", and "This Song Is Just For You" were released. In 1968 Ford made the comic album ''Clinton The Clown'' with George Chisholm and the Inmates in a single all-night session. The album included "The Old Bazaar in Cairo", which Ford co-wrote with Ken Morris and Charlie Chester, and the suggestive "My Baby's Wild About My Old Trombone". He set up a guest house with his wife on the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

but continued to tour throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

's veteran DJ, Brian Matthew, who was

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be selected. From his groomsmen, the groom usuall ...

at Ford's wedding, revealed on his '' Sounds of the '60s'' show, on 10 March 2007, that Ford was living on the Isle of Man but was seriously ill, unable to work and bed-ridden. Clinton Ford died on 21 October 2009. He is survived by his wife, Margaret (Maggie) née Worsfold, whom he married in 1962, and four children, Georgina, Susannah, Rebecca and Ian. Ford's track "Dance With a Dolly (With a Hole in Her Stocking)" was chosen by the

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acce ...

Anne Wood Anne Wood, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 18 December 1937) is an English children's television producer, responsible for creating shows such as ''Teletubbies'' with Andrew Davenport. She is also the creator of ''Tots TV'', ''Boohbah'' ...

as one of her ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

'' in October 2011.

Discography

Selected singles

Albums

*''Clinton Ford'' (1962) – UK No.16 *''Listen With Us'' (1965 Columbia Records 33SX1689) *''Clinton The Clown'' (1968) with George Chisholm ( Pye 182010) *''Songs For Children Aged One to a Hundred'' (1969)

Marble Arch Records Marble Arch Records was a subsidiary of Pye Records that released budget records from 1964 to around 1980. Compact discs were also released from the late 1980s to around 1994. Background Pye Records created this subsidiary label with in a type of ...

References

External links

*
Clinton Ford at 45-rpm.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Clinton 1931 births 2009 deaths English male singers Musicians from Salford Skiffle musicians Butlins Redcoats 20th-century English singers British novelty song performers 20th-century British male singers